In the pantheon of nostalgic elementary school activities, most of us can remember feeding leaves to caterpillars and then watching as they made their incredible transformation from furry worm-like insect to graceful butterfly. Would it surprise you to learn that every year hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate over thousands of miles as part of the life cycle that follows — and our area happens to fall right along the migration route?

The conservation-minded folks at Goodell Gardens and Homestead have spent years helping to facilitate this extraordinarily important aspect of the monarch's pollination behavior, and this year they are hosting the Monarch Butterfly Migration Celebration to relay that message to a greater audience. Guests will be treated to a veritable trove of monarch information, light refreshments, a milkweed seed (which can be planted and grown into the monarch larva's meal of choice), as well as the dreamy sounds of local band Flora.

The informational portion kicks off at 2 p.m. inside the barn, leading up to Goodell's first large-scale monarch butterfly release, which helps boost the local population. Amber Till, spokeswoman for Goodell, was quick to point out that at the same time monarch butterflies are faced with loss of habitat all along their migration route, the decline in population of these pollinators can have untold consequences for "the environment, our food supply, and our survival."

Anyone is welcome to pay Goodell Gardens' regular admission fee ($5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for children ages two to 17) to watch the butterfly release; $15 tickets, which include an adult monarch butterfly for release, are still available for purchase online and at the door. — Cara Suppa